GIFT 


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The  Rural  Situation  in  the 
South  and  Its  Needs 


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Published  by  the  ExecutiTe  Committee  of  the| 

CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION  IN  THE  SOUTH 

**  A.  p.  BOURLAND,  Executive  Secretary 

508  McLACHLEN  BUILDING 
WASHINGTON.  D.  C. 


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THE  RURAL  SITUATION  AND  ITS  NEEDS 


THB  GRAIN    BELT. 


Country  life  in  the  South  is  cut  up  into  distinct  and 
conflicting  divisions  forming  a  disintegrating  condi- 
tion. 

Two  Divergent  Races. — The  following  figures  show 
a  marked  difference  between  the  farming  populations 
of  the  two  great  belts  into  which  the  States  between 
the  Potomac  and  the  Mississippi  are  divided.^  How- 
ever, it  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  portions  of  the 
grain  area  the  negroes  are  numerous,  while  sections  of 
the  cotton  States  are  largely  white. 


THS  GRAIN    BELT. 


THK  COTTON   BELT. 


THE  COTTON   BELT. 


503%  OF  THE 
FARMERS  WHITE 


49.7% 
BLACK 


Two  Classes  of  Farmers. — In  the  Grain  Belt  the 
farmers  who  own  and  cultivate  their  lands  are  in  the 
decided  majority.  The  number  of  the  tenants,  how- 
ever, is  large  and  constantly  increasing.  The  negro 
farmers  are  almost  entirely  tenants ;  hence  the  percent- 
age of  owners  in  the  Cotton  Belt  is  small. 

(i)  Data  taken  from  an  unpublished  survey,  including  the 
States  between  the  Potomac  and  the  Mississippi  Rivers  (Florida 
excepted  on  account  of  divergent  conditions),  made  in  connection 
with  the  State  Supervisors  of  Rural  Schools  in  1912.  The 
Grain  Belt:  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee.  The  Cotton  Belt:  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama, Mississippi 


Two  Classes  of  White  Farmers. — Thirty  oat  of  ererjr 

hundred  white  farmers  in  the  Grain  Belt,  forty-four 
out  of  every  hundred  in  the  Cotton  Belt  are  tenants 
A  glance  at  the  following  figures  suffices  to  show  th» 
radical  difference  between  the  two  bases  for  com- 
munity development : 


GRAIN  BELT. 


COTTON   BELT. 


"The  white  tenants  of  Georgia,  with  their  families, 
make  a  population  of  450,000,  forty  per  cent  of  the 
total  white  rural  population.  In  the  South  the  white 
tenants,  with  their  families,  number  two  and  a  half 
million  souls." — E.  C.  Branson. 

The  white  farmers  who  own  and  cultivate  their 
lands  are  the  main  reliance  for  building  up  community 
institutions.  In  a  community  of  100  farmers  we  have 
approximately  the  following  groups : 

Grain  Belt.  Cotton  Belt. 

White  owners  60  28 

White  tenants   25  22 

Black  farmers  15  50 

TOO  100 

GRAIN  BfiLT. 


That  there  are  marked  contrasts  between  the  differ- 
ent sections  is  shown  in  the  following  groupings  in 
typical  communities,  the  first  being  in  the  Alabama 
Cotton  Belt,  the  second  in  the  South  Carolina  Pied- 
mont section,  the  third  in  the  Kentucky  Blue  Grass 
region. 

Cotton  Belt.  Piedmont.  Blue  Grass. 

White  owners   8  36  68 

White  tenants   6  33  27 

Black  farmers  86  29  5 

100  100  100 

The  relative  divisions  in  these  communities  is  seen 
in  the  following: 

COMMUNITY  IN  THE   BlACK   BELT,    BuLLOCK   CO.,   AlA. 

WHITE  f 


COMMUNITY    IN    THE    PlEDMONT    SECTION,    GrEENVILLB   Co.,    S.    C 


COTTON   BELT. 


COMMUNITY   IN  THE   WESTERN   ValLEY  ArSAS. 


THE  TENANT  A  WEAKENING  FACTOR 


He  Wears  the  Soil  Out. — Bound  to  one  crop  with  a 
one-year  lease,  he  cultivates  for  the  biggest  possible 
yield. 

He  Wears  Himself  Out. — With  one  or  two  mules 
and  inadequate  implements,  his  farming  is  a  ceaseless 
round  of  drudgery.  After  he  pays  the  year's  rent  and 
his  debts,  there  is  nothing  left  over.  So  he  is  doomed 
to  another  and  another  roi;nd,  until  his  native  energy, 
together  with  that  of  his  wife  and  children,  is  ex- 
hausted, all  having  drudged  their  lives  out  for  scant 
subsistence. 

He  Wears  His  Community  Out. — In  large  areas  50 
per  cent  of  the  white  farmers  are  tenants.  In  places 
the  number  is  larger.  Something  like  50  per  cent  of 
these  tenants  move  every  year.  The  shifting,  shift- 
less, landless  man  fe?ls  but  a  passing  interest  in  his 
neighborhood ;  he  is  not  a  real  part  of  it,  and  so  can  be 
of  but  little  help  in  its  enterprises.  The  church  gets 
only  a  slight  hold  on  him;  his  children  go  to  school 
only  a  few  months  in  the  year.  Thus,  unreached  by 
cultural  agencies,  he  and  his  family  become  weakening 
elements,  wearing  down  the  very  basis  of  social  life. 

Planning  constructive  undertakings,  we  must,  on  the 
average,  subtract  36  from  every  group  of  100  farmers, 
as  the  following  table  shows : 


Total 

Farms 

Per  cent 

Farms 

Per  cent 

No.  of 

operated 

operated 

operated 

operated 

white 

by  white 

by  white 

by  white 

by  white 

farmers. 

owners. 

owners. 

tenants. 

tenants. 

Grain  belt... 

8-5,109 

598,561 

69.9 

271,466 

29.4 

Cotton  belt.. 

510,207 

280,795 

55.6 

226,071 

43-7 

1,385.316      879,356      62.8 


497,537 


36.6 


THE  FARM  OWNER  IS  KEPT  IN  PRIMITIVE 
POWER 


The  hope  for  community  development  is  in  the  resi- 
dent white  farmers  who  own  their  lands  and  homes. 
What  means  and  inclination  have  they  for  the  under- 
taking?   Are  conditions  favorable? 

The  Farmer  Works  Single-handed,  getting  no 
strength  from  joint  action  or  combined  effort  and  no 
support  from  community  cultural  agencies.  He  uses 
but  little  power.  The  average  number  of  work  ani- 
mals per  farm  in  Georgia  is  1.4.  "In  Iowa,  where  each 
farm  worker  produces  $600.11  annually,  exclusive  of 
stock,  nearly  four  horses  per  worker  are  used.  In 
South  Carolina,  where  each  farm  worker  produces 
$144.46,  one  mule  for  two  laborers  is  the  average  farm 
power." — Dr.  S.  A.  Knapp,  1906. 

Low  Productive  Power. — Holding  tenaciously  to 
one  crop,  the  average  farmer  cultivates  this  according 
to  traditional  methods,  so  that  he  has  only  a  few  bales 


of  cotton  or  a  few  loads  of  grain  or  tobacco  to  sell  at 
prices  fixed  without  regard  for  his  interests.  After 
deducting  the  amounts  spent  for  fertilizers  and  labor, 
the  average  income  of  the  farming  population  of  our 
States  is  $489.95.  Taking  out  other  farm  and  house- 
hold expenses,  there  is  left  but  a  meagre  net  profit 
In  the  cotton  States  the  average  owner,  who  cultivates 
20  or  25  acres,  gets  5  or  6  bales,  which,  with  good 
prices,  bring  $200  to  $300.  Out  of  this  he  must  pay 
from  $150  to  $200  for  supplies  used  in  growing  the 
crop.  He  raises  enough  corn  and  meat  to  last  about 
six  months,  so  that  in  late  winter  he  must  again  mort- 
gage his  place  and  crop  to  get  supplies  for  the  coming 
year. 

In  a  study  of  the  incomes  of  a  group  of  Ohio  farm- 
ers the  Presbyterian  Survey'  shows  that — 

One-fourth  had  a  net  loss. 
One-fourth  had  a  net  income  of  $100. 
One-fourth  had  a  net  income  of  $300. 
One-fourth  had  a  net  income  of  .$900. 

Low  Per  Capita  Wealth. — "Upon  the  average   the 

country  dwellers  of  Georgia  are  worth  $325  (white 
farmers,  $426)  apiece;  in  Wisconsin  the  average  per 
capita  wealth  is  $1,386;  in  the  country  at  large,  $994; 
in  our  States,  $333.42.  These  figures  do  not  represent 
cash,  but  farm  properties  of  all  sorts  as  they  appear  in 
the  1910  Census." — E.  C.  Branson.  This  means  that 
the  farmer  and  farm  wife  are  drudging  their  lives  out 
for  scant  subsistence,  accumulating  very  little  with 
which  to  build  home,  school,  and  church. 

The  Farmer  Personally  Insulated. — His  .whole  life  is 
a  struggle  against  obstacles  and  adverse  forces.  The 
grass,  the  weeds,  the  insects,  the  burning  Southern 
sun,  the  drought,  and  at  times  the  rains  are  against 
him.  The  fight  against  these  hardens  tissues  and  brain 
cells,  so  that  he  toils  unseeing  amid  the  glories  of  field 
and  sky. 

Forced  to  sell  his  hard-earned  product  at  an  impov- 
erishing price  fixed  by  some  far-off  pitiless  master,  he 
feels  the  disappointment  that  comes  from  unrewarded 
toil  and  unfulfilled  ambition. 

Brooding  in  his  isolation,  he  becomes  mistrustful, 
and  falls  into  a  defiant  aloofness,  emerging  intensely 
and  passionately  personal.  Without  any  bent  toward 
cooperation,  he  works  as  an  insulated  unit  in  a  neigh- 
borhood, unconscious  of  community  possibilities. 


A    COMMUNITY   OF  WHITE   FARMERS  AND 
ITS   DETERMINING  FACTORS 


In  a  typical  Piedmont  or  upland  community,  where 
the  farming  population  is  largely  white  and  land- 
owning, the  influences  that  determine  its  character  are 
separative  in  their  tendencies. 

(i)  Rural  Life  Surveys,  Department  of  Church  and  Cotnrtry 
Life,  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Chureh, 
Warren  H.  Wilson,  Director,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City, 
N.  Y. 


.  Social  Groupings  Separative. — Family  interests, 
ilong  with  their  animosities,  often  i<eep  the  country 
community  in  a  more  or  less  sundered  condition.  Then 
denominational  lines  cut  the  people  up  into  small  re- 
ligious congregations,  each  standing  for  a  distinctive 
creed  without  any  impulse  toward  the  development  of 
the  common  life.  In  populous  counties  there  is  a 
church  for  every  five  square  miles,  representing  pos- 
sibly ten  or  fifteen  different  denominations.  Benton 
County,  Arkansas,  for  example,  has  five  kinds  of  Bap- 
tists, four  kinds  of  Presbyterians,  and  two  each  of 
Methodists,  Christians,  and  Holiness — twenty  denomi- 
nations altogether. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  COUNTRY 
CHURCH  DISINTEGRATING 


"  The  Meeting-House.  —  Denominational  divisions 
mean  small  congregations.  The  church  house  is, 
therefore,  an  unpretentious,  often  unpainted,  shell-like 
frame,  rudely  seated — a  mere  shelter  in  which  to  hear 
a  sermon.  Its  value  ranges  from  $300  to  $1,200,  aver- 
aging about  $600. 

..  Services. — ^About  98  per  cent  of  the  country  churches 
liave  services  only  once  a  month.  "The  minister  comes 
on  Saturday,  preaches  two  sermons  on  Sunday,  and 
theii  leaves  Monday,  to  return  a  month  later.  There 
is  no  opportunity  for  pastoral  work;  the  modern 
preacher  has  nothing  for  the  farmer  but  a  sermon." — 
Tennessee  Survey,  page  43. 

•  Absentee  Ministry. — The  Presbyterian  Surveys 
show  that  the  vast  majority  of  country  ministers  live 
in  towns  at  a  distance  from  their  parishes.  In  a  num- 
ber of  counties  not  a  resident  minister  was  found  living 
ip  the  country.  The  annual  salary  ranges  from  $100 
to  $250;  some  churches  pay  as  low  as  $50  a  year.  The 
minister  often  farms,  teaches,  or  follows  some  other 
calling.  The  students  from  denominational  colleges 
gupply  many  rural  pulpits. 

Church  Activities. — Eighty-five  per  cent  of  the 
churches  have  Sunday  schools,  but  these  are  attended 
by  only  about  25  per  cent  of  the  scholastic  population. 
In  the  Southern  surveys  practically  no  young  people's 
societies,  no  women's  associations,  and  no  men's  or- 
ganizations are  reported.  The  churches  are  utterly 
without  social  activities.  The  stress  laid  upon  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  bars  any  concern  about  every-day 
life.  The  result  is  that  even  in  populous  and  pros- 
perous sections,  like  Gibson  County.  Tennessee,  65  per 
cent  of  the  churches  are  either  stationary,  dying,  or 
dead ;  only  32  per  cent  growing,  and  3  per  cent  unac- 
counted for.  In  our  States  it  is  possibly  safe  to  say 
that  three-fourths  of  the  country  churches  are  either 
Standing  still  or  losing  ground. 


Number  of  Churches  Increasing. — Yet  denomina- 
tional zeal  is  constantly  building  new  churches,  put- 
ting two  or  three  in  communities  hardly  able  to  sup- 
port one.  About  one-fourth  of  our  farmers  can  be  set 
down  as  profit-making.  When  their  means  is  divided 
up,  each  church  is  doomed  to  helplessness,  acting 
chiefly  as  a  disintegrating  influence. 


THE  COUNTRY  SCHOOL  A  DISINTEGRATING 
FACTOR 


Like  the  church,  the  school  is  a  product  of  separative 
tendencies.  It  also  works  for  community  disintegra- 
tion and  depression.  Division  of  revenues  yields  each 
community  but  a  meager  amount  for  equipment  and 
maintenance. 

The  House. — In  the  Grain  Belt,  82.4  per  cent,  and 
in  the  Cotton  Belt,  70.8  per  cent,  of  the  houses  have 
only  one  room.  The  average  value  is  $676.62.  The 
Alabama  survey*  makes  the  following  striking  con- 
trast : 


A  CHEAP   AUTOMOBILE. 


A    RURAL    SCHOOL-HOUSB. 


Initial  cost $750     Average   cost $600 

Annual   up-keep 300     Average  annual  salary  of 

teacher    288 

Total $1,050  

Total 


The  Teacher. — In  the  Grain  Belt,  63  per  cent,  and 
in  the  Cotton  Belt,  71.5  per  cent,  of  the  teachers  are 
women.  The  lowest  is  West  Virginia,  with  48.9  per 
cent  women  ;  the  highest.  South  Carolina,  80.4  per  cent. 
About  25  per  cent  of  the  teachers  are  under  20;  the 
average  age  approximates  23  yenrs.  Seventy-five  per 
cent  of  the  teachers  have  no  other  training  than  that 
given  by  the  common  schools. 

(i)  An  Educational  Survey  of  Three  Counties  in  Alabama, 
Bulletin  No.  43,  issued  by  the  Department  of  Education,  Mont- 
gomery, 1914. 


SALARY    AND    NET    INCOME. 

Average  monthly  salary  (our  survey) $42.87 

77  per  cent  of  teachers  board.     Average  per  month 10.48 

Net  income  per  month $32 .  39 

Net  income  for  the  5.5  months'  average  term $178.14 

Average  monthly  salary  (supervisors'  estimate) 42.00 

87  per  cent  of  the  teachers  board. 

Net  income   from  year's  work $131.00 

A  New  Teacher  Every  Year. — In  our  survey  we 
found  67.3  per  cent  of  the  teachers  in  the  first  term  at 
their  schools ;  18.2  per  cent  teaching  the  second  term, 
and  6.5  per  cent  their  third  term.  Only  7.9  per  cent 
had  taught  three  or  more  terms  at  the  same  place. 
The  school  has  a  new  teacher  nearly  every  year. 

The  following  sets  forth  the  findings  of  the  Alabama 
Survey,  which  aptly  remarks:  "It  certainly  appears  as 
if  it  never  occurs  to  some  trustees  that  they  might 
profitably  employ  the  same  teacher  twice."  The  sec- 
ond circle  shows  the  tendency  to  move  from  county  to 
county.  At  least  "75  per  cent  do  not  know  the  com- 
munities, and  45  per  cent  are  even  strangers  to  the 
needs  and  problems  of  the  counties  where  they  work." 

WHITE  RURAL   TEACHERS. 


WHrrE  RURAL  TEACHERS. 


Teaching  a  Makeshift. — In  our  survey  we  found  the 
average  service  of  the  rural  teacher  to  be  5.4  terms. 
The  general  average  can  possibly  be  placed  at  four 
terms.  We  have  practically  no  professional  country 
teachers.  "I  have  never  seen  a  man  or  woman  in  Ken- 
tucky who  declared  it  to  be  a  life  purpose  to  teach  in 
the  rural  schools." — T.  J.  Coates. 


How  Many  Country  Children  do  the  Schools  Reach? 

1911-1912. 

White   scholastic   population 3,844,384 

Total  enrolled  in  rural  schools 2,885,700 

Average    daily    attendance 1,815,049 

Children  of  school  age  not  enrolled 911,151 


Percentage  of  scholastic  population  enrolled. 
Percentage  of  scholastic  population  in  daily  attend- 
ance for  term  lasting  5.5  months 

Average  number  pupils  enrolled  in  each  school... 
Average  attendance  in  each  school 


>S.2 

477 
54-5 
28.6 

Out  of  every  40  white  children  of  scholastic  age- 


(4) 
(3) 

(2) 

(I) 


00000000000 
00000000000 
00000000000 


00000000000 
00000000000 

0000000  00  O  O 


10    do    not 
school. 


enter    the 


10  attend  a  part  of  the 
session. 


20  attend  the  full  term 
00000000000    I        °^  S  5  months. 
00000000000 

A  number  of  County  Supervisors  estimate  that  only 
23  per  cent  of  the  scholastic  population  of  the  com- 
munity attend  the  school  for  the  full  term,  44  per  cent 
one-half  the  term,  and  33  per  cent  one-fourth  of  the 
term. 

What  Happens  in  the  Average  Neighborhood. — To 
the  farmer  the  school  is  a  house  where  he  can  send  his 
children  a  few  months  each  year  to  learn  how  to  read, 
to  write,  and  to  cipher.  The  local  trustees  employ  a 
young  woman  in  her  early  twenties,  without  special 
training,  who  has  taught  two  or  three  terms  of  5.5 
months,  each  year  in  a  different  place.  Her  salary  is 
$42  per  month.  About  30  per  cent  of  the  pupils  enter 
before  Christmas.  Then  for  two  months  the  school  is 
crowded.  About  50  per  cent  of  the  children  average 
out  the  entire  term. 

With  twenty  to  forty  recitations  a  day,  the  teacher 
can  give  but  about  ten  minutes  to  a  class,  so  that  each 
child  will  get  from  ten  to  twenty  minutes'  personal 
attention  each  day.  The  remainder  of  the  time  he  is 
pinned  to  a  torturing  seat  in  the  unsightly  and  un- 
wholesome room,  killing  time  and  soul  in  the  struggle 
to  memorize  useless  facts  or  to  work  out  needless 
problems. 

What  the  School  Actually  Does. — Its  aim  is  to  force 
knowledge  upon  the  mind.  The  child  is  required  to 
call  words  mechanically,  to  learn  rules  by  rote,  to 
memorize  facts  in  which  he  has  no  interest,  and  then 
to  answer  questions  from  a  book,  without  any  stimulus 
to  real  mental  effort.  "The  native  impulses,  instincts, 
and  interests  are  considered  only  to  be  suppressed." — ' 
L.  C.  Brogden. 


"This  method  inculcates  the  habit  of  accepting  slo- 
gans and  high-sounding  phrases,  instead  of  well-con- 
sidered principles.  It  makes  the  farmer  easily  the 
prey  of  the  adroit  demagogue." — W.  K.  Tate. 

With  vacation  extending  from  six  to  ten  months,  the 
children  lose  nearly  all  the  ground  they  have  gained, 
so  that  during  their  whole  school  life  practically  no  in- 
tellectual progress  impels  them  beyond  the  stage  of 
the  raw  human.  Possibly  the  only  marked  effect  has 
been  to  make  them  dissatisfied  with  country  life  and 
unfit  for  its  duties.  "The  schools,  with  their  present 
course  of  study,  have  been  our  most  efficient  means  for 
depopulating  the  rural  districts." — T.  S.  Settle. 


The  census  data  shows  that  this  change  is  going  on 
throughout  the  country.  Those  who  stay  on  their 
places  for  periods  varying  from  less  than  a  year  to  four 
years  are  considered  as  migratory;  those  who  remain 
five  years  or  longer  as  permanent. 


Grain    belt. . 
Cotton    belt. 


Number  of 
Migratory 
farmers. 

.   349.897 
.   302,641 


652,538 


WHITE  FARMERS. 


Number  of 

Fermsnent 

farmers. 

336,841 
209,052 


565,893 


Percentage 
ot  farmers 
migratory. 

49.5% 

59-1% 


54-3% 


THE  UNREST  IN  THE  COUNTRY 


No  Career  in  the  Country. — The  school  expects  the 
bright,  successful  student  to  seek  a  city  life.  It  is  al- 
ways a  surprise  when  a  college  graduate  "buries  him- 
self in  the  country."  There  is  no  career  there.  Farm- 
ing holds  no  promise  of  fortune.  Raw  products,  sold 
at  imposed  prices,  can  not  create  a  surplus  to  finance 
industrial  enterprises,  to  hold  the  profits  of  manufac- 
ture and  distribution  in  the  community. 

Then  there  are  no  growing  cultural  agencies,  no  ad- 
vancing moral  and  educational  enterprises  to  enlist 
ambitious  minds — no  steps  leading  from  the  soil  to 
distinction  among  men.  Those  who  feel  the  stirrings 
for  human  power  must  turn  to  the  city. 

No  Holding  Power  in  the  Country. — The  result  is  a 
deeply-moving  unrest  and  dissatisfaction,  especially 
among  the  young  people  on  the  farms,  creating  a 
changing,  constantly  unsettling  condition. 

"Barely  more  than  one-half  of  the  farmers  (in  the 
country  at  large)  occupy  their  farms  as  long  as  five 
years  at  a  time.  In  the  South,  more  than  one-third  of 
all  our  farmers  move  into  and  out  of  farm  communities 
every  year.  .  .  .  Some  time  ago  we  found  a  farm 
community  in  south  Georgia  in  which  three-fourths  of 
the  entire  population  were  newcomers." — E.  C.  Bran- 
son. 

The  following  figure  helps  us  to  see  what  results 
from  the  unsettling  of  one-third  of  the  farmers  in  a 
community  every  year : 


Out  of  every  100  Farmers 


29  remain  on  same  farm 


four  years  or  more. 


23  for  two  to  four  years. 


j8  for  one  year. 


less  than  a  year. 


"The  shifting  populations  account  for  the  poor  con- 
ditions of  roads,  bridges,  and  other  public  improve- 
ments, as  well  as  for  the  lack  of  interest  in  schools, 
churches,  and  general  community  welfare." 

"Imagine  the  condition  of  the  schools,  the  churches, 
and  all  other  community  affairs  and  institutions  where 
transient  populations  swarm  into  and  out  of  the  com- 
munity year  by  year,  like  a  plague  of  Kansas  grass- 
hoppers. What  abiding  interest  can  these  people  have 
in  the  welfare  or  well-being  of  the  community?" — E.  C. 
Branson. 

Constantly  Increasing  Movement  into  the  Towns. — 

The  countryside  is  being  depopulated  slowly  but 
surely.  Between  1900  and  1910  the  number  of  cities 
with  2,500  inhabitants  and  more  increased  from  227  to 
293.  In  1900  they  contained  13.8  per  cent  of  the  total 
population.     This  increased  to  18.3  per  cent  in  1910. 

The  number  of  towns  with  less  than  2,500  inhabit- 
ants increased  from  1,875  to  2,526.  In  1900  they  con- 
tained 5.8  per  cent  of  the  total  population.  This  in- 
creased to  8.6  per  cent  in  1910. 


Per  cent  of  total  population 
in  rural  territory. 

1890.                1900.                1910. 

Per  cent  of  increase 
between  1900  and  1910 
Towns  and         Rural 
cities.         territory. 

Grain    belt. 
Cotton  belt. 

.  80.8               77.7               71.7 
84.4                81.0               74.8 

40.0                  9.3 
43-3             10.5 

The  decreasing  proportion  of  the  people  living  in  the 
country  is  seen  in  the  following  percentages : 


8 


83%  RURAL 

1890 

Mi 

73%  RURAL 

1910 

B 

^B 

PERCENT  OF   INCREASE 


WHAT  MUST  BE  DONE? 


To  open  up  a  career  in  the  country  farming  must  be 
made  a  paying  business,  yielding  opportunity  for  for- 
tune to  satisfy  the  most  ambitious. 

Farming  must  be  made  an  interesting  and  educative 
calling,  requiring  experiment  and  investigation,  mak- 
ing the  farm  both  a  laboratory  and  a  productive  plant. 

Farming  must  produce  a  vigorous  race  of  men  and 
women — a  permanent  rural  citizenship  for  whom  the 
country  holds  out  opportunities  to  develop  the  human 
power  to  its  utmost. 


HOW  CAN  FARMING  BE  MADE  A  PAYING 
BUSINESS? 


I.  Modern  Methods  of  Tillage  and  Management. — 
The  first  result  must  be  an  increased  yield  without  in- 
crease of  acreage  or  cost  of  production.  This  calls  for 
an  exact  business  system  of  farming,  a  program  of 
diversification  and  rotation  providing  home-grown 
supplies  amply  and  all  the  while  building  up  the  soil. 
Every  year  the  Farm  Demonstration  Service  shows 
how  the  earning  power  can  be  developed. 

Corn  under  demonstration  methods : 

1913.  Average    yield 35.9  bushels 

General    average 20.2  bushels 

Cotton  under  demonstration  methods : 

1913.  Average    yield 1,004.9  pounds 

General  average 546.0  pounds 

In  1906,  Dr.  S.  A.  Knapp  estimated  that  there  is  a 
possible  800  per  cent  increase  in  the  productive  power 
of  the  farm  laborers  of  the  Southern  States. 


II.  Joint  or  Group  Action : 

1.  To  Improve  Products. — The  natural  begin- 
ning is  with  small  groups  to  specialize  upon  cer- 
tain products  and  bring  these  up  to  a  high  stand- 
ard. In  a  community  one  group  can  work  with 
corn  and  grain,  another  with  live  stock,  another 
with  poultry,  another  with  fruit,  another  with 
bee-keeping,  another  with  trucking,  and  so  on, 
covering  the  main  agricultural  possibilities  of  the 
region. 

Each  will  be  a  company  of  specialists:  (i)  To 
get  all  that  is  known  regarding  the  culture  of  its 
product;  (2)  to  make  experiments,  studies,  and 
investigations. 

The  productive  body  of  a  town  is  made  up  of 
classes  of  special  workers:  carpenters,  brick- 
layers, plumbers,  painters,  and  so  on.  So  in  the 
agricultural  system  we  need  corn-ers,  wheat-ers, 
fruit-ers,  peach-ers,  truck-ers — men  and  women 
expert  in  particular  production. 

2.  To  Market  Successfully. — Is  it  wise  to  in- 
crease production  if  the  farmer  can  get  only  45 
cents  of  the  dollar  the  consumer  pays,  and  if  the 
markets  are  even  strongly  influenced  by  men 
whose  fortunes  depend  upon  beating  down 
prices?  Is  it  not  wise  to  bring  about  that  co- 
operation between  business  men  and  farmers  rec- 
ommended by  the  Louisville  Conference  to  in- 
sure a  fair  return  from  products,  so  that  the 
country  community  can  accumulate  the  surplus 
necessary  for  its  development?  The  thousands 
of  successful  marketing  associations  throughout 
the  world  prove  that  all  this  can  be  done  through 
united  effort. 

3.  To  Develop  Manufactures.  —  The  mere 
growing  and  selling  of  raw  products,  however, 
cannot  produce  wealth  ample  for  the  full  devel- 
opment of  rural  life.  Wealth  comes  from  turn- 
ing raw  materials  into  commodities  with  high 
value.  With  skill  the  ten-cent  pound  of  cotton 
can  be  turned  into  a  dollar  or  more.  All  indus- 
trial progress  is  furthered  by  joint  stock  com- 
panies which  bring  capital  together,  employ  skill, 
and  amass  fortunes. 

The  co-operative  creameries  of  the  Northwest 
show  that  farmers  can  operate  manufacturing 
plaats  successfully.  For  the  Southern  farmer 
they  are  pointing  the  way  to  mills  for  making 
syrup  and  sugar,  for  knitting  and  weaving,  and 
for  industries  to  develop  all  our  agricultural  re- 
sources, creating  an  industrial  temper  along  with 
skill,  and  thus  opening  up  opportunities  for  a 
business  career  in  the  country. 


HOW  CAN  FARMING  BE  MADE  AN  INTEREST- 
ING AND  EDUCATIVE  CALLING? 


The  average  man  in  the  cornfield  is  working  merely 
to  get  something  to  eat.  His  real  interests  are  in  the 
little  gratifications  of  the  flesh.  Joy  in  labor  can  come 
only  when  there  is  a  great  result  ahead.  Then  the 
eyes  open  and  the  brain  gets  to  work. 


9 


The  most  interesting  thing  in  the  world  is  a  con- 
structive activity.  A  group  working  to  improve  the 
breed  of  corn,  to  increase  its  yield,  has  before  it  an  in- 
viting end.  As  it  goes  along  it  gets  insight  into  the 
processes  of  germination,  nutrition,  fertilization — the 
laws  of  plant  development — and  thus  the  workers  feel 
the  thrill  that  conies  to  the  botanist  from  his  investiga- 
tions. 

Such  experiences  give  words  a  vital  meaning  to  en- 
able the  farmer  to  use  bulletins  and  books  effectively. 
As  a  rule  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  get  ideas  from  print 
and  to  make  use  of  these  in  his  work.  Activity  comes 
before  thinking. 

When  the  farmer  once  feels  the  scientist's  interest 
in  soils,  plants,  and  animals,  and  learns  how  to  get  at 
their  secrets,  tillage  will  be  lifted  from  a  drudgery  to 
an  educative  calling. 


HOW  CAN  FARMING  PRODUCE  A  VIGOROUS 
RACE  OF  MEN  AND  WOMEN— A  PER- 
MANENT RURAL  CITIZENSHIP? 


Vigor  must  be  physical,  mental,  spiritual,  and  social. 
For  these  ends  we  have  the  home,  the  school,  the 
church,  and  the  community. 

THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  HOME: 

The  Home  the  Primal  Nourishing  Place. — It  must 
therefore  provide  nutritious  food  and  a  sanitary  en- 
vironment, along  with  the  furnishings  needed  for  the 
development  of  the  vital  physical  functions.  Labor- 
saving  devices  must  be  used  to  release  the  energies  of 
the  women  on  the  farms. 

The  Home  Starts  the  Child  upon  its  Cultural 
Career. —  By  awakening  an  interest  in  the  plants,  in- 
sects, birds,  and  animals  around  him,  and  by  getting 
him  to  work  out  the  relationship  between  these  and 
his  own  life,  then  leading  him  through  books  to  find 
his  relationship  with  the  world  of  humanity,  the  home, 
aided  by  the  school,  enables  him  to  use  the  varying 
farm  activities  for  the  development  of  mental  power 
throughout  life. 

The  Spiritual  Life  Quickened. — The  air  of  comfort 
and  neatness  stimulating  the  sense  of  beauty;  the  in- 
fluence of  music  and  literature,  all  made  vital  through 
the  ideals  of  mother,  father,  and  visitor,  awaken  the 
spirit  and  foster  its  growth. 

THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  SCHOOL: 

To  Develop  Intellectual  Vigor. — The  primary  duty 
of  the  school  is  to  train  the  sense-organs  to  get  facts ; 
to  develop  the  power  to  work  these  into  conclusions. 
Clearly  defined  images  are  needed  to  give  a  basal  con- 
tent to  a  large  part  of  the  vocabulary  to  enable  the 
child  to  use  books  for  its  development.  It  thus  brings 
the  world's  thought  into  his  service. 


To  Produce  Human  Efficiency. — Through  ordered 
activities  the  school  trains  the  child  in  investigation, 
maturing  the  skill  needed  for  expression  in  wood  work, 
in  plant  work,  in  painting,  in  music,  and  in  thinking. 

To  Work  for  Independence. — The  farm  has  never 
thought.  Others  have  done  its  thinking  for  it;  hence 
it  lies  still  in  serfdom.  Undeveloped  intelligence 
means  low  production.  We  can  never  have  a  great 
State  until  we  have  a  great  farmer — one  rooted  in  na- 
ture, growing  up  out  of  the  eternal  realities,  thinking 
independently,  and  working  out  his  own  destiny. 

If  we  try  to  make  the  school  do  everything,  it  will 
do  nothing. 


THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHURCH: 

To  Develop  Spiritual  Power. — It  is  the  special 
charge  of  the  church  to  spiritualize  the  human  with 
pure  motives  and  impel  him  to  righteous  working.  It 
fosters  the  virtues,  bringing  the  spirit  to  its  fruiting 
in  love  and  truth.  Its  aim  is  integrity,  the  essential 
factor  in  every  personality. 

To  Perfect  Human  Relationships. — ^It  is  a  primal 
duty  of  the  church  to  give  moral  direction  to  all  activi- 
ties and  agencies  in  the  community.  It  starts  by  re- 
vealing the  miracle  and  meaning  of  life,  making  all 
feel  its  sanctity  so  mightily  that  each  will  reach  out  to 
perfect  human  relationships  through  loving  kindness 
and  co-operation.  The  apostle's  injunction,  "Bear  ye 
one  another's  burdens,"  thus  becomes  the  directing 
principle  in  the  common  life. 

Community  Activities  Imperative. — Traits  and  vir- 
tues are  strengthened  only  through  exercise.  The 
church  must  therefore  organize  for  community  serv- 
ice, with  definite  aims  and  a  definite  program.  Its  ex- 
istence depends  upon  successful  farming.  Its  inter- 
ests are  furthered  by  good  roads  and  other  public 
utilities.  Its  own  health  is  influenced  by  the  sanitary 
conditions  of  the  homes,  by  the  recreations  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  by  their  general  well-being.  Furthering  these 
activities,  it  trains  its  members  in  the  redeeming 
human  virtues  and  creates  a  life-giving  atmosphere 
throughout  its  area. 


SCHOOL 

EDUCATIVE 
EXERCISES 
HOMEWORK 
ART&UTEWmia 


WOMANSCLUB 

EQUIPMENT 

HOUSEKEEPING 

PROGRAM 


CHURCH 
SOCMllNTERESrS 
RECREATIONS 
RIGHTEOUSNESS 


10 


The  Service  of  the  Community: 

In  the  actual  sense  at  present  a  "community"  does 
not  exist.  Our  neighborhoods  are  made  up  of  indi- 
viduals and  families,  without  organic  cohesion.  Each 
is  ,a  social  status  wholly  granular,  and  not  fibrous. 
When  once  organized,  however,  it  will  be  the  funda- 
mental productive  power. 

To  Develop  Organizing  Ability. — Through  its  co- 
operative undertakings  it  will  train  the  enterprising  to 
combine  men  and  means  for  the  development  of  all  the 
resources  of  the  community.  Through  its  cultural 
agencies  it  will  train  men  and  women  in  organizing 
for  intellectual,  artistic,  and  spiritual  attainment. 

To  Produce  Social  Power. — In  his  group  activities 
the  farmer  naturally  loses  his  aloofness,  ceases  to  be  a 
mere  unit,  and  becomes  a  factor  in  community  life. 
This  prepares  him  for  a  worthy  share  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Commonwealth. 


The  purpose  of  the  community  and  its  agencies :  the 
farm,  the  home,  the  church,  and  the  school  center  in 
the  human. 


COMMUNITY    DEVELOPMENT    A    CITIZEN'S 

TASK 


A  Rural  Social  Unit. — The  task  of  the  age  is  to  cre- 
ate a  rural  social  unit,  with  industrial  enterprises  turn- 
ing raw  products  into  finished  forms,  with  cultural 
agencies  and  activities  calling  forth,  developing  intel- 
lectual and  artistic  capacities,  producing  a  rural 
wealth,  a  rural  thought,  a  rural  art — a  rural  civiliza- 
tion. Increase  of  earning  power  is  no  gain  unless  the 
surplus  can  be  converted  into  institutional  life. 

A  Citizen's  Task. — The  energies  of  a  people  can  be 
united  only  through  their  own  will.  The  effective  ap- 
peal, therefore,  must  come  from  a  source  they  respect. 
The  starting  point  in  every  community  is  a  strong 
man,  or  a  group  of  strong  men,  who  will  get  their 
neighbors  together  and  enlist  them  for  the  common 
undertaking. 


"In  our  communities  there  are  men  and  women  who 
have  thoughtful  and  serious  ideas  for  the  development 
of  their  neighborhoods,  but  who,  by  the  inertia  of  their 
own  habit  and  the  drag  of  existing  customs,  are  unable 
to  initiate  any  effective  enterprise  for  the  good  of  the 
community."  (Arkansas  Survey,  page  14.)  Our  first 
problem  is  how  to  break  up  this  inertia  and  start  the 
leaders  upon  their  tasks. 

In  communities  throughout  large  areas  the  working 
basis  is  small,  being  confined  to  the  25  per  cent  of  the 
white  farmers  who  have  a  material  surplus.  Dividing 
lines,  denominational  and  others,  must  be  overcome, 
which  calls  for  the  most  skillful  leadership.  Condi- 
tions similar  to  those  expressed  in  the  circle  exist  gen- 
erally. 


SECTAA}^ 


'PR0F1T>-A^ 


The  First  Step.— The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  get 
groups  of  farmers  working  together  at  different  under- 
takings: One  group  to  improve  corn  and  increase  its 
yield;  another  to  develop  the  live-stock  industry;  an- 
other for  poultry;  others,  possibly,  for  fruit,  trucking, 
bee-keeping,  and  so  on. 

The  Small  Group  the  Best  Beginning. — As  our  peo- 
ple are  accustomed  to  living  and  working  in  small 
social  units — family,  school,  church — it  is  easier  for 
them  to  become  effective  in  small-group  efforts  than 
in  large  enterprises. 

Needs  Must  Be  Felt. — Working  seriously  and  sys- 
tematically at  their  problems,  the  group  members 
come  to  feel  the  need  of  instruction,  of  a  teacher,  and 
of  a  school.  Likewise,  wrestling  with  problems  of  the 
home  and  the  community,  they  come  to  the  need  for 
the  church.  The  farmers  must  feel  the  need  for  cul- 
tural agencies,  else  they  will  have  none.  "We  get 
what  we  want,  but  we  must  want  it  first,"  wrote  a 
wise  country  woman  to  Mr.  Brogden. 

The  Outcome :  A  Community. — Out  of  the  co-opera- 
tive undertakings  an  organized  system  will  be  grad- 
ually developed  to  take  care  of  health,  roads,  home, 
school,  church,  and  all  other  common  interests. 

A.  P.  BOURLAND. 

Washington,  D.  C,  October  16,  1914. 


II 


J 


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